| "On My Side" is more easily obtained on the "Gentle Breeze" cd single (2000), which also contains a demo of a song called "Party Line", an acoustic number featuring Paul only on vocal and guitar. |
| Prior to forming the Velvet Crush, Ric and Paul released 7" singles under a variety of different names, such as Choo Choo Train, the Springfields, Bag-O-Shells, the Stupid Cupids, and even Paulie Chastain. Fortunately, you can find most of the above material on a few handy compilations. Hey Wimpus: The Early Recordings Of Paul Chastain & Ric Menck (1998) contains the Choo Choo Train singles. The pop found here is more chewy than crunchy, but the songs are all catchy as a cold, especially "High" and "When Sunday Comes". Ric takes vocal turns on "Big Blue Buzz" and "Wishing On A Star". |
| The Ballad Of Ric Menck (1997) is essentially the all the songs released under the Springfields moniker. Even with similar personnel, the Springfields 'sound' is quite different from Choo Choo Train. Here, the dreamy springtime pop is replaced by the summery big jangle of early Byrds and the Hollies (whose "Clown" gets covered here). In addition, Ric sings lead on all of the songs. This cd is a must if for nothing else but the brilliant "Perfect Day". It's recently gone out of print, so grab it if you can. |
| You also won't want to miss Peppermint Stick Parade (1995), a compilation of singles released on the Bus Stop label from my home state of Iowa. While it isn't exclusively Menck/Chastain material, half of the disc's 16 tracks contain Velvet Crush personnel. Here's where you get to hear tunes released under a hodge podge of different monikers (Stupid Cupids, Bag-O-Shells, Springfields, Paulie Chastain, Velvet Crush). There's even two songs by Jeffrey Underhill's previous band Honeybunch. Honeybunch has kind of a minimalist pop sound. "Whatever Happened To My Life", credited to Bag-O-Shells, provides a blueprint for the type of sound Velvet Crush would pursue. |
| Heavy Changes |
| Velvet Crush Listener's Guide (Part II) |
| The "Pre-Crush" Years |